The goal of the present study was to determine the effects of chronic -adrenergic receptor stimulation with isoproterenol (ISO) on cardiac tissue, systemic trophic changes and on -adrenergic receptor desensitization in mice. Mice (n= 36) received continuous ISO (30 g/g/day) via osmotic minipump for 13 days. Left ventricle (LV)/body weight (BW) ratio was increased by 27% in ISO v control (CON) mice. The extent of cardiac hypertrophy induced by chronic ISO was offset in part by concomitant increases in body weight, which were greater in ISO than CON mice (22 v 8%), and occurred with increases in both muscle mass and brown fat to BW ratios. Histological analysis of mice revealed a three-fold increase in subendocardial interstitial connective tissue with no evidence of acute cellular necrosis or chronic inflammation. Acute i.v. ISO challenges induced dose-dependent increases in LV fractional shortening (FS) and ejection fraction (EF) using echocardiography (9 MHz), which were attenuated after chronic ISO, i.e. physiological desensitization was observed. Cellular mechanisms of -adrenergic receptor desensitization included decreases in -adrenergic receptor density (-49%) and decreased basal (-45%) and ISO-stimulated (-61%y adenylyl cyclase activities. Lesser decreases in forskolin-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity (-16%) and adenylyl cyclase mRNA levels for both type V (-17%) and type VI (-23%) isoforms were observed following chronic ISO. Thus, chronic ISO (30 g/g/day) induced cardiac hypertrophy without cellular necrosis, increased weight gain